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Reed Richards (Earth-616)/Expanded History/Early Life
__TOC__ Childhood Reed Richards, the only son of wealthy physicist Nathaniel Richards and his wife Evelyn. He was a child prodigy with special aptitude in mathematics, physics, and mechanics. As a child, Reed became close to his uncle Ted, Nathaniel's older brother who was an eccentric writer. However, this was during a period of political witch hunts for political dissidents. Ted was brought before a Senate commission, but Ted refused to speak about his activities or name those who might be involved in anti-government activities. This ruined Ted's entire life, and Nathaniel soon barred Ted from visiting Reed any more. This social and economic ruin drove Ted to suicide, and instilled in Reed a very strong sense that following the rule of law in America was important. In this story Reed states that his Uncle Ted was brought before Senator Joseph McCarthy's House Committee of Un-American Affairs during the late 1940s early 50s. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. One of Reed's earliest childhood memories of his father was a day when his father told him to jump from a high place. Although Reed was scared his father taught him that it was okay to be afraid, but not trying something because of his fear was unacceptable. Reed also was a member of the boy scouts. Although Reed was popular in school, he knew that he was different from the other students. When he confided this in his father, Nathaniel told his son that he should embrace this and that someday there won't be anything that Reed will not be able to accomplish. One day while reading the fairy tale about Humpty Dumpty, Reed asked his parents how it could be possible to put the fictional character back together again. This started an educational discussion about "time's arrow". Although his parents told him that time runs in one direction, Reed began theorizing that it, in fact, ran both ways. By the age of seven, Reed's mother had passed away, and at the time Reed's intelligence was at the college level by the time he was fourteen. There came a point in Reed's young life that his father said that he had to leave and that he would be gone for a long, long time. Nathaniel told his son that an intelligent mind without heart is useless and told him to be a better friend, husband, and father than he ever was. Reed took this advice to heart and governed his every action from then on. Unknown to Reed at the time his father was a member of the Brotherhood of the Shield as seen in . The reason Nathaniel needs to leave is, as seen in and he was soon involved in the "Hunt" against his alternate selves imposed by Immortus. He eventually hid out in the future of Earth-6311 as seen in Nathaniel left his son with enough money to continue his education and fund future experiments. He left Reed in the care of the family butler Giles Peacock and his wife. State Univeristy It was at State University in Hegeman, New York, that Reed Richards first met two of the most important individuals in his life. He was assigned to room with a foreign student, a scientific genius named Victor von Doom. The imperious Von Doom, taking an immediate dislike to Richards, decided to take other quarters. Instead, Richards ended up rooming with former high school football star Benjamin J. Grimm, who became Richards’ closest friend. Richards was already intending to build a starship for interstellar travel. When he told his ambitions to Grimm, Grimm jokingly said that he would pilot the starship for Richards someday. Reed and Von Doom became intellectual rivals throughout their time at State University. According to his future wife, during the summer months, Reed rented a room from Mary Storm. It was there that he first met the future love of his live Susan Storm, Mary's young niece who was much younger than he was. The girl developed an instant crush on Richards. However, these events have since been refuted. states that Sue was a "girl next door" which is not too far from the truth, given that establishes that Sue and Johnny lived in their family home nearby. states that Sue was 13 years old when she first met Reed. This is also reinforced in . However depicts Sue as being in her late teens when she and Reed first met. The change in age was an editorial decision made in 2013 as a Reed having a romantic interest in a girl he first met when she was 13 years old was deemed inappropriate for the times. However, this would greatly alter the personal history of both Reed and Sue. Instead, it should be presumed that while Reed met Sue when she was 13 years old, he did not develop emotions for her until years later. At one point, Reed was visited by his father Nathaniel who had become a time traveler, who sought his son's aid in stopping a rogue alternate-reality counterpart known as the Beast as part of the "Great Hunt" that pitted the elder Richards against his counterparts across the multiverse. Nathaniel was able to enlist the aid of Reed, Ben Grimm, and Victor von Doom. Traveling to the timeless realm of Chronopolis, Reed and his friends assisted his father in battling the Beast, however, it was Victor who landed the killing blow. With the hunt over, Nathaniel returned the others to their proper place in history. However, Reed and the others apparently do not remember this encounter. - suggest that these events occurred on Earth-616. This comes at odds with - where Reed is reunited with his father and has no memory of his father being a time traveler, nor of their encounter while he was in university. It's entirely possible that Reed, Ben, and Victor's encounter with Nathaniel were wiped from their memories. It was also during this period that Richards theories on a negative universe attracted the attention of Richard Janus, a fellow student. Richards kept his finding secret from Janus for years Later, Von Doom became obsessed with developing a machine that could project the astral form of a being into other dimensions. Reed pointed out a flaw in Doom's calculations, but Doom arrogantly ignored his warning, feeling Reed was trying to upstage him. The machine exploded, scarring Doom's face. He was soon expelled for conducting unethical experiments. As Doctor Doom, von Doom would later become Richards’ greatest rival and enemy. Other factors other than Victor's incorrect calculations came into play here. Doom also utilized magical spells which were tampered with by Ben Grimm as revealed in . Early Romance with Sue Storm Years past and while earning his Doctorate, Reed was visited by a strange man who claimed to have knowledge of a coming alien invasion. When he showed Reed a communicator that outlined these plans, Reed deduced that the man was really the alien invader as he seemed to understand what the aliens were speaking in their language. Holding the alien at gunpoint, it resumed its natural state and Reed turned the Skrull over to the authorities, who in turn gave it over to the super-hero group known as the First Line. According to Reed, while working on his third doctorate, it was at this time that he moved into Marygay Dinkins home. Based on his accounts, this was when he first met Susan Storm, now a full-grown woman. He fell in love with her instantly and he began courting her, much to Marygay's approval. During this period they were transported to the future of Earth-60166 to participate in the 40th wedding anniversary of their Earth-60166 counterparts with various future versions of themselves. They were late returned to their proper point in time with no memories of this encounter. They would be periodically plucked out of time throughout their lives in a similar fashion to attend the same party. Ultimately, Reed was too distracted from his work due to his romance with Sue, and decided that the best thing for the both of them was to move out of Marygay's home. Eventually, Reed and Ben began attending Empire State University and it was during that time that Reed also provided moral support to his friend Ben Grimm when his then girlfriend Alynn Chambers ended their relationship. During his school years he was taught by some of the best, such as Walter Rosen, and Professor Noah Baxter. Richard Janus later returned even more obsessed with harnessing "Negative Energy". When Janus asked for Richards' help, the later refused to assist him, citing potential dangers, and went to his own projects. More of his classmates were Sam Thorne, later a football coach; and Abe Jankovitz, later professor of neurological studies at Seabord University in Massachussetts. Military Service Reed and Ben later served in the military together. Their time in war increased their trust in each other. states that Reed was drafted into the military and joined the OSS during World War II. These should be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. During the his military career, he apparently met and fought alongside Sargent Nick Fury during a military conflict. Mentioned in and seen in . These stories specifically state that Reed fought during World War II, however due to the Sliding Timescale, this would become an impossibility without prematurely aging the character. An official explanation has yet to be provided. However, recounts that Reed had a grandfather named John who fought in World War II. One could assume that the "Reed Richards" seen in Sgt. Fury #3 has been "retconned" to John Richards and that Reed and Fury met at some other point that is more malleable to the rules of the Sliding Timescale. It was during his time in the military that hair on Reed's temples began turning grey. As stated in a "fact" page in states that Reed's hair began to go prematurely grey due to the "horrors of war" By his own admission, during combat missions, Reed frequently thought of Susan Storm, his "girl back home." After finishing his tour of duty, Reed began travelling the globe further expanding his education while also seeking adventure. It was during this period he met and began a relationship with Alyssa Moy, a fellow explorer. Their earliest recorded adventure was a roadtrip from London to Captown, the details of which are not fully detailed. Claw of Bast While in China, Reed and Alyssa earned the ire of General Lao-Tse when they came to the rescue of Prince Bayan, in order to prevent Lao-Tse from gaining access to the mystical Lopnor Gateway. In thanks, Bayan gave Reed the Staff of Bast, one component of the powerful Claw of Bast which could grant great power to one who held it. Incidentally enough, while visiting his colleague Professor Van Nuys he learned that Van Nuys was suffering from Sebert Syndrome and sought to use the Claw to cure himself. He enlisted the aid of Professor Francesca Fisher to locate the remaining portions of the Claw. Also seeking the claw was Reed's old foe Victor Von Doom who sought to claim the Claw of Bast in order to heal his scarred face and rule the world. To this end he enlisted the aid of Romani who were loyal to him to seek out the missing parts of the Claw. Detained in New York after a clash with one of Doom's minions, Reed and Francesca were liberated thanks to Alyssa Moy, who included herself into the mission. The pair continued on to Romania where they went seeking the Eye of Bast the second portion of the Claw a that they required. However in the process of lifting the eye from the museum, Francesca was captured by Doom's minions along with the map to that gave the location of the Paw of Bast. Reed and Alyssa went after her, but found themselves captured. Reed was then forced to recreate the very experiment that scarred Victor, using both Alyssa and Francesca as test subjects to prove that Victor's calculations were wrong. Reed managed to save the women and they escaped Doom's Romanian castle with the map. They travelled to Egypt where they located the Paw of Bast at the base of the Sphinx. However when they recovered the Paw from a hidden crypt below, Doom and his followers ambushed them and Victor claimed it. Assembling the Claw of Bast, Doom did not forsee that it would resurrect the soul of the ancient Pharaoh Khafre, which animated the Sphinx and attacked them. Reed wrestled the Claw of Bast from Doom's hands, and used it's remaining power to put Khafre back at rest again, rendering the Claw powerless. Incidentally, the Claw also cured Professor Van Nuys as well. It should be pointed out that the only recounting of this story was by Reed himself many years later while regaling the tale to his son, as such some of the details may have been embellished or entirely made up. The narrative in states that Reed might be making up some of his story. However since General Lao-Tse was later seen in after Reed told his story, some of these events were indeed factual. Reed and Alyssa then next went to Mexico to try and unlock the maw of Xunanguero, however in the process of doing so they accidentally unleashed a strange tentacled creature that threatened to kill them. Reed was able to use the key to reseal the doorway, unaware that he was secretly assisted by the future Alyssa Moy and Susan Storm who travelled back to this point in time on a mission. After escaping with their lives, Reed asked Alyssa to marry him. However, this romance was not meant to be. Not long after, while attending the University of Vienna together, Alyssas broke off her relationship with Reed. Columbia University Reed returned to the United States and took up a teaching job at Columbia University. It was here that he was reunited with Ben Grimm. Reed also reconnected with Sue Storm when they bumped into each other once on a rainy day, restarting their romance almost instantly. The only rival for Sue's affections, apparently, came from an individual who later became known as the Quiet Man. He claimed that he became obsessed with Sue and stalked her from afar. He also claimed to have been jealous of Reed's relationship with her and secretly stalked the couple for years, apparently manipulating the course of their entire lives from that moment on. The Quiet Man didn't let his scheme be known until many decades later and have been chronicled in - and - During one of their early dates, Reed took Sue out star gazing and told her that she would be with him on his quest for enlightenment from then on. Richards also worked in a number of projects with several scientific luminaries including Prof. Phillip Zoltan Ranbow. The Richards Rocket Group Three years before Reed Richards tested his starship, his father resurfaced one last time and made sure that his son had the proper funding for his experiments before disappearing again. states that Nathaniel Richards left two billion dollars. However the dollar figure should be considered a topical referencedue to regular inflation. His research into building his ship revolutionized space travel, gaining Richards some media traction. Reed Richards spent most of the money on his project to build and launch his starship. This project, based in Central City, California, received further funding from the federal government. Originally and early publications state that the Reed was attempting a manned rocket flight to the Moon ahead of the Soviet Union, the first issue was published in November of 1961 during the height of the Cold War and the Space Race and prior to the first manned flight to the Moon. While states they were trying to fly to Mars. The distance he intended to travel and the technology involved has since been updated a number of times. In states that Reed was testing out a new "Star Drive" to take them out of the solar system, while states they were trying to leave the galaxy. Many references to this space flight refer to Reed's ship as a rocket. However the phrase "starship" or "space shuttle" are used in later references. Most publications typically do not go into these details to avoid unintentionally dating the origin story again. That summer, states that Johnny Storm was on summer vacation at the time of the space flight that transformed the Fantastic Four Reed, Sue (now Reed's fiancée), her younger brother Johnny and Ben all relocated to Central City. One particular night while Reed and Sue were on a date the pair witnessed the landing of an alien creature calling itself Gormuu who sought to conquer the Earth. While the military proved ineffectual, Reed noticed that the monster was growing larger at a rapid rate, but was not increasing in mass. Searching the creature's unguarded ship he learned that a power source was causing him to expand. Building a device to duplicate this power source, Reed then used it to overpower Gormuu causing the creature to expand into nothingness. ---- =Further Reading= * Mister Fantastic: Year One * Return to Expanded History Main Page =Continuity Notes= =References=